Jackson Free Press

On deadline day, both the House and the Senate passed their respective versions of "dummy" education funding formula bills out of committee that bring up code sections regarding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. The bills mark both House Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' commitment to at least looking at some of EdBuild's education funding recommendations, which were released two weeks ago in an 80-page report.

EdBuild's main recommendation is for the state to transition to a weighted student formula, which would work in a very different way than MAEP does now. Weights are attached to certain characteristics of students like special education, English language learners or "low-income" students to name a few. Weighted formulas give money based on those weights and the student populations they affect, so in theory, the district with the highest number of highest weighted student populations could have the most to gain--or not. How much weight each of those and other measures will get in the Legislature's proposed new formula is still unclear, and experts say that the weights are the political part of any weighted formula.

The dummy bills that came out of both committees today give no indications of what sort of weights the top lawmakers are considering or what total dollar amount lawmakers are working with to determine funding for the new formula or fiscal-year 2018, which begins July 1.

It's possible that specifics on any plans to re-vamp the formula won't be out until conference committee time, right before session ends. It's also possible that lawmakers will only address certain parts of EdBuild's recommendations. Both Rep. John Read, R-Gautier, and Sen. Gray Tollison, R-Oxford, mentioned the transparency measures from EdBuild's report, which would require school districts to track and report how they spend their funds in new ways.

There are a lot of questions up in the air, and the answers are few and far between. What's for certain is that the formula is certainly still up for debate and potential changes this session, but to what extent changes will be made depends on top lawmakers' decisions in the next 60 days.

There is an old saying in sports: “Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” If that is the case, which defense will lead its team to a victory in Super Bowl LI?

Both offenses in this year’s Super Bowl, which airs Sunday, Feb. 5, at 5:30 p.m. on FOX, are two of the best in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons have the top-scoring offense, averaging 34 points per game, and the New England Patriots are third, averaging 28 points per game.

The team that plays the best defense should come out on top in this game. There are several ways to rank defenses—most rank defenses by the yards they allowed per game, but some defenses give up yards but not points.

Winning a football game is about who scores the most points, and sometimes, that means forcing a field goal instead of giving up a touchdown.

New England is the top defense by that measurement, allowing just 16 points per game on average. Atlanta is 25th in the league in points allowed, as the Falcons’ defense gave up 25 points per game.

Another great test of a defense is its ability to get off the field on third down. That means forcing punts and field goals instead of giving up long drives for touchdowns.

The Patriots’ defense allowed teams to convert on third down 37 percent of the time for seventh in the league. Atlanta ended up allowing teams to convert 42 percent of the time on third down for 26th in the NFL.

New England allowed teams to convert just 39 percent on fourth down, and the Falcons allowed a whopping 72 percent of fourth-down conversions. This is important if one team is behind late in the game and must gamble for a first down.

The numbers bare out that the Patriots get off the field better on third down so they give up fewer points, and Atlanta struggles at times to get stops, which means its defense gives up more points.

Another factor in this Super Bowl may be how each team responds in the red zone, the area from the opposing team’s 20-yard line to that end zone. This represents a good scoring chance for a field goal or touchdown.

New England allowed its opponents to make touchdowns in the red zone 50 percent of the time, and Atlanta allowed red-zone touchdowns 72 percent of the time. On offense, the Patriots scored touchdowns on 64 percent of their red-zone trips, and the Falcons scored touchdowns on 63 percent of their visits to the red zone.

Good defenses force turnovers, and both teams are great at that. The Patriots forced 23 turnovers, and the Falcons forced 22 turnovers. Both teams only gave the ball away 11 times this season on offense.

But the opponents that a team plays against can skew statistics somewhat. …

As the sun set on Friday, Jan. 27, at Smith-Wills Stadium, 30 former college football players stretched and talked as they waited for a chance to impress scouts from the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Nearly every player at the tryout just finished up their career in the 2015-2016 college football season.

While it was a smaller group of players than years past, plenty of talent was on display during the tryout. Players from universities all over Mississippi were in attendance, as well as other schools such as Jacksonville State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Akron, the University of Memphis and Tulane University.

One of the earliest players to impress scouts at the tryout was former Jackson State University defensive back Zavian Bingham. In the 40-yard dash, he ran an unofficial 4.3 seconds on both his attempts.

His times in the cone drill and length in the broad jump ended up being solid numbers. Bingham, a native of Terry, Miss., talked to Winnipeg scouts for most of the night.

Former Mississippi State University offensive lineman Justin Malone was one of two players in that position at the tryout. Malone spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers before a knee injury ended his hopes of making the team.

Malone, a former Madison-Ridgeland Academy standout and Madison, Miss., native showed good footwork and nice blocking skills. He is trying to get his career back on track after the knee injury and can play several spots on the offensive line, including center, like he did at the 2015 Belk Bowl.

Two quarterbacks were at the tryout. Former Delta State University quarterback Tyler Sullivan and Alabama A&M University quarterback De’Angelo Ballard both struggled, but showed flashes of being able to play at the next level.

Sullivan, who is from Louisville, Miss., looked good on deep throws most of the night. Ballard, who is from Macon, Miss., showed plenty of arm strength and showcased his speed during the agility drills.

Overall, nearly every one of the players who showed up on Friday displayed some potential and made plays during the four-hour workout. It was a small but impressive group; each man seemed to give his all for a small chance to keep playing football.

Late in the event, every player was reminded of what can go wrong at a tryout.

Former Alcorn State wide receiver Jordan Payne stood ready to take off on a pass route. As the play started, Payne took two steps and fell in a heap as everyone on the field heard a loud pop. Most players thought the wide out tripped on his own feet, something that does happen, until his body language and the way he stayed on the ground let them know it was more than just a player tripping.

Payne suffered some type of lower leg injury. Other players said it was an Achilles tear as he was carried off the field toward his waiting family.

While Bingham and Malone might …

The U.S. Southern District Court issued an opinion and order this evening denying attempts to dismiss the lawsuit filed by five voters who allege that the Mississippi House of Representatives "intentionally discarding their ballots to change the outcome of the election," the order states.

In the order, United States District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote that the State of Mississippi's three attempts to dismiss the case, citing the intention behind the disqualification of the votes of plaintiffs Billie Faye Keyes, Joshua Allen, Courtney Rena Fortune, Karli Ford Matthews and Shelton S. Matthews.

"Taking these allegations as true, as the Court must at this stage, they state a claim that defendants intentionally treated plaintiffs differently from others voting by affidavit ballot, and there was no rational basis for the disparate treatment beyond an impermissible desire to alter the outcome of the election," Reeves' order states.

The late 2015 District 79 race between incumbent Representative Blaine Eaton, D-Taylorsville, and challenger Mark Tullos. The race ended in a tie, one that was broken through the implementation of an antiquated state law that demanded the two draw straws, which they did in a ceremony Nov. 20, 2015 in front of the governor and other state officials, and Eaton emerged victorious.

Tulles challenged the results, and a majority-Republican special committee was convened.

The Jackson Free Press reported the decision of the committee, to throw out some votes, ending the tie and handing the seat to Tullos.

"The House relied on the special election committee's report and testimony from Baker that five of the affidavit ballots should have been disqualified because voters violated a part of Mississippi law that requires voters to notify their county clerk if they move more than 30 days before an election," the JFP reported. "After two days of testimony from "five or six" witnesses, the House special election committee voted 4-1 to disqualify five of the affidavit ballots counted in the District 79 race, which was decided in November by drawing straws, as state law requires. By disqualifying five votes, the race was not technically a tie because, Baker said, even if the remaining four votes were for Eaton, Mark Tullos, the Republican challenger, would have won by one vote."

Reeves, as expressed in his opinion, disagrees. The judge instructed both sides to move forward with the trial, beginning with contacting the magistrate judge to coordinate the next stage.